Part 38: Revision
Arka and Sudisir worked systematically through her mother’s papers and her own notes. The parts Arka had struggled to translate were made clear by Sudisir’s superior knowledge of the language. Arka had already cross-referenced most of the tales her mother had gathered, making it easier to discard the myths and exaggeration from the facts.
After several hours, with only short breaks for food and drink, they had a full list of issues that were still unresolved. These, they worked through, one by one, each using their own sources to evidence their position and in each case, working carefully to a compromise they could both agree on. Arka had been completely immersed in the task and had not noticed the hours slip away. They had worked through the night and it was starting to get light.
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Together they had established that the sons of Mim, Garwin and his older brother Fjinn, had fallen out over a woman. She was Syl, daughter of Dúr. Garwin had made a special gift for her, a fine bracelet of gold and silver, set with garnets, but Fjinn had wanted Syl for himself. He spread false rumours against his brother, secretly and subtly so that Dúr would refuse Garwin the suit. Mim took his oldest son’s side in the affair. Garwin had taken this badly to the extent that he had told others that he wanted to see his brother dead. Some said the enmity between the brothers lasted for years; others that it was never resolved. In time, he redeemed himself in Dúr’s eyes and he and Syl were married.
Having been driven from their own lands, the Aoelfrae eventually settled in Erengabord, the home of the Pekdverm (Nibin-Noeg to the elves, or ‘Petty-dwarfs’ as they were known in the language of men). They built settlements on the surface, not knowing that the dwarfs were living in their city under the ground. When the dwarfs emerged for their biennial hunt, the Aoelfrae thought they had come from outside what they now saw as their land, and attacked them. This earned them the name ‘Oskaralfreth’ or ‘dark-elves’.
Whether or not Garwin had been reconciled with his brother, most accounts told of him fighting the elves alongside Fjinn, though whether through brotherly ties, because of loyalty to his father the King, or from self-defence was not clear. The fighting went on for some time, almost a year, and there were heavy losses on both sides. The dwarf council argued with Mim that they should cut their losses and return to their underground city, sealing the entrances against the elves. But Mim was enraged that the elves should take the dwarfs’ hunting lands. He planned a suicidal attack on the elves’ main settlement intended to strike terror into their hearts. Garwin was chosen to lead this attack, with some accounts suggesting that this was because Mim favoured his oldest son, and so was prepared to send Garwin to certain death. Fjinn had offered to go with him but Mim had forbidden this.
Secretly, Garwin planned a way to escape the fighting and enlisted 50 families to his cause. He and four others: his brother in law, Hjalstr, Hanter, a friend of Hjalstr, Hydr, wife of Hanter and Pjet, a friend of Garwin, found a way underground to a new chamber, deep in the rock, where they could build a new home. They hoped to stay there until the fighting was over then return to Erengabord to sue for peace with the elves. They returned and gathered the 50 families together to make their escape under cover of darkness. But Fjinn found out about Garwin’s plan and followed the deserters with a squad of fighters.
There was a brief and bloody battle during which all of but one of Fjinn’s band had been killed. Most accounts told of a final fight between Garwin and his brother, in which Fjinn was slain. One fighter escaped to alert the king of his son’s treachery.
Garwin then took the decision to seal off the entrance to the chamber, which meant that they would never be able to return to Erengabord. This act became known as the Rodfrakkert, or the ‘Great Divide’. The survivors sent out search parties to find another exit from their new home, which now looked like becoming their grave. As supplies ran low they became more and more desperate and some talked openly of overthrowing Garwin, who was now seen by many as unfit to lead them.
Then Garwin stumbled upon a new passage, which led deeper into the earth. This led to the area now known as the Stone Labyrinths. At this point accounts varied widely. The most common view was that the dwarfs arrived in Ylliakum in the Fourth Epoch and helped to expand the Stone Labyrinths and to build the fortress at the Bronze Doors in return for safe passage, under Talad’s blessing and protection, into Yliakum. So impressive was their work that they earned the name ‘Perrakith’ or ‘they who cut rock’ although this was commonly reduced to the term ‘Stonebreakers’.
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Finally, both Arka and Sudisir were satisfied with the history they had compiled. In particular, it was now clear that Garwin had left Erengabord before Sudisir’s father had been murdered. Each point was referenced to the texts of the accounts recorded by Arka’s mother and the Aoelfrae chronicles, which Sudisir had memorised. Arka had learned many new terms in the old tongue of the Perrakithor, and had been busy adding these to her dictionary.
Sudisir made ready to leave, having committed the new histories to memory. He and Arka embraced, marking the end of the long and bitter division, both between the two and their peoples.
